Priest at New Hyde Park church charged with forcible touching, police say

A New Hyde Park priest was arrested and charged this week with forcible touching of a 22-year-old man, Nassau police said.

In a news release Friday, police said Thomas Moriarty, 62, was employed at the Church of the Holy Spirit. He was arrested Thursday and released with "non-monetary" conditions after pleading not guilty at arraignment the same day at First District Court in Hempstead, according to records. Moriarty could not be reached Friday and court records did not list a lawyer for him.

The Church of the Holy Spirit website on Friday afternoon listed Thomas M. Moriarty, Jr. as a parochial vicar serving under the church's pastor. His name was later removed from the website.  

A spokesman for the Rockville Centre Diocese, Rev. Eric Fasano, said in an email Friday that "Father Moriarty has voluntarily stepped away from ministry and will not present himself as a priest while the required civil process and diocesan procedures are undertaken. The accusation does not involve any parishioners from Holy Spirit Church in New Hyde Park where Father Moriarty was serving as an Associate Pastor."

Holy Spirit church offices were closed Friday, and officials there could not be reached. 

Police said the touching occurred at 12:30 a.m. Oct. 26, in Oceanside. A police spokesman declined to specify the location, citing privacy concerns.

Moriarty is scheduled to make his next court appearance Nov. 15 in Nassau District Court before Judge David Goodsell, according to court records.